Wood Snipe

The wood snipe is a dark snipe 28–32 cm long with a short, broad-based bill. It breeds in the Himalaya of northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and southern China, and is reportedly very well known to Chauri herders in the Himalaya. In winter it occurs at lower altitudes in the Himalaya and is a regular visitor in small numbers to north Vietnam, and it also occurs as a vagrant in central and southern India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, north Thailand and Laos (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in the May–July season in alpine meadows above 3,000 m, nesting on boulders near rhododendron shrubs. It eats invertebrates, primarily worms, and its diet also includes seeds and larvae found in Chauri dung. A 2021 study in Sichuan found that birds preferred the lower parts of alpine meadow, at about 3,400–3,600 m, with intermediate soil moisture and abundant soil fauna. The widespread loss of wetlands on its breeding and wintering grounds has been a major reason for its decline. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of forest that eats invertebrates, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).